Ranma 1/2

Disclaimer: I don’t own Ranma, Rumiko Takahashi does. I just borrowed some of the characters. Rated: NC-17

Shades of Home

Chapter 29

Ranma walked out into the exercise yard. He'd had to adopt a funny, rolling gate. Walking pigeon toed so that he wouldn't trip over the chain or break it. The chain was just strong enough that he met some resistance, if he was careful he wouldn't break it. He wasn't about to let them know he could get loose. He needed the sense of security he got from the knowledge that he could get free if he really needed to.

One of the MP's guarding Ranma pointed to the field beyond the fence.

"Look there. I wonder who those guys are. Don't they know it's against the rules to be that close to the fence? I'll have to call the perimeter guards and have them go out and run those dummies off."

Ranma looked where the man had pointed and saw all his friends standing or sitting around what he thought was a telescope or high-powered spotter's scope. They were so obviously watching him that he had to laugh a little before he felt like crying. He missed his friends so much that it almost made him physically sick.

Ranma closed his eyes and when he opened them he had ‘long sight', he could control a lot of things about his body including his eyesight. So he got a good look at Sunny, she was sitting on Rio's shoulder watching for him and he could see the tears running down her face. Everyone else looked just as sad. All the men in his secondary team had long faces and Kuno and Ryouga looked mad enough to eat nails. He knew that Leela and Danny were both still in the infirmary.

He walked to where he was sure that they could see him and turned to the MP.

"I need my hands free for a minute. No funny stuff, I promise. Please?"

"OK. What are you going to do?" The MP unlocked the cuffs and let them dangle.

Ranma raised both hands over his head, clasping them together. Then he made the signal for ‘bug out'. He watched as Rio signaled ‘No'.

"They ain't gonna go. I can't believe they're just sittin' out there watchin' me. That's just dumb."

The MP shook his head. His partner had gone inside to call the perimeter guard, so he just took Ranma's hand in his. Adjusting the cuff on one wrist he bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to explain to this kid how his friends felt.

"Gimme your other hand . . . Look kid, this is none of my business but your friends need to see you. Even more, in some ways, than you need to see them. They need to see that you're ok. And believe me when I say that you need them more than you know."

Ranma clenched his teeth, "I don't want them to see me like this. I don't want Sunny to remember me in chains. I'm lucky that she even wants to come here at all."

"Boy, you better get your head screwed on straight. Your friends want to see you because you need the support. Without the support of your friends you're not gonna make it 90 days without goin' outta your mind. You're not the kind to take confinement well. I can tell."

The MP knew people, he'd been in this line of work for a long time and Ranma was one of those people who didn't take kindly to being locked up.

"Yeah, I hate bein' locked up. But what'm I supposed to do. Make a run for it? Where would I go? I gotta stay here. So I just have to take it. You don't know all the circumstances, but I'll tell ya this. More counts on me than I like to think about."

Ranma made a decision, finally admitting to himself that he really needed to see his friends and so he told the MP to let the Warden know that he would like to see his friends.

.

Sunny jumped up and grabbed Ranma. He looked embarrassed as hell.

"Sunny, hey, don't cry. They won't let ya come back if ya cry all over me. Please, Koi. Don't! I'd rather ya slapped me than see ya cry. "

Ranma held Sunny as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Next time you won't see me I'll . . . you just better see me that's all." Sunny was pulling at Ranma's shirt. "Where are you hurt? Let me see. I'll heal it."

Ranma grabbed Sunny's hands and stopped her from stripping him right there in the visitor's room.

"Sunny, I healed up by myself days ago. It's been almost two weeks." Ranma oof'ed obligingly as Sunny swatted him on the shoulder.

"Yes you fiend I know it's been almost two weeks eleven days twelve hours you want to know the minutes? Snot! I ought to do something awful to you beast."

Ranma sighed, Sunny was really mad at him and he didn't blame her. "Sunny, please don't be mad at me." He got down on one knee, clasped his hands together and looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes look. "I'm really, really sorry. Forgive me? . . . Please? . . . Koi?"

Sunny looked at Ranma and gave up. When he looked at her like that, she couldn't stay mad at him, no matter what he'd done. She put her arms around him and sighed.

"You scared me to death and you always look so sad in the yard I would like to know what you're doing letting them chain you up like that don't they know those chains won't hold you if you don't . . . "

Ranma kissed Sunny, a very good way to shut her up before she gave away something he didn't want her to.

"Shh. Don't let them know. I need to be able to get free, if I need to. I'm so nervous here, I'm about to jump outta my skin as it is. If they really hold me, I'm sunk. I won't make it." Ranma kept his voice low.

Sunny nodded. She understood so she just pushed Ranma into a chair and sat on his lap.

"Kiss me some more. We only get a few more minutes. The first visits are short. Don't ask me why, it has something to do with evaluations of some kind."

.

Conroy watched Ranma as he entered the room. He looked tired but he smiled at Conroy.

"Hey Sarg. What's up?"

"My temper. Damnit, Ranma . . . You . . . " Conroy didn't know what to do first.

"Easy Sarg, don't pop your cork. It's ok. You know what's on the line. I'm ok. I been in lots worse places. I get enough to eat, they don't even want me fightin' and they're not gonna beat me. What more could I want?"

Ranma couldn't believe it. Conroy looked like he was going to bust something. Ranma had thought that no one would even care that much, as long as he wasn't being abused.

"Un? Your freedom? Look, we all know what went on. We're all so proud of you we don't know what to do. You gave up part of your life so the higher ups would investigate Downs and his kind. I don't even want to think about the lives you're saving. Damn, I don't know of anyone else in the world who would do that. I know I don't have that kind of nerve. I don't know what's goin' on in your head. Why don't you want to see any of us? I'd be wantin' everyone I knew to visit as much as they'd let them."

"Frankly, Sarg, I feel kinda' foolish. It's not as if I don't deserve it. I did slug Steven . . . twice. But I don't like you guys seein' me in transports. And these slops are just plain embarasin' "

Ranma ducked his head and stared at the table top.

"Well, at least they fit. Every time I wind up in the stockade they can't seem to find pants long enough for me. And the shirts are always too big."

Conroy didn't mind admitting he'd spent some time in a stockade here and there.

"You? Sargent-keep-your-nose-clean Conroy? Well . . . hell."

Ranma blinked once and then started to snicker.

"What the hell is so funny?"

Conroy put on his most put-upon look, trying to look indignant and only looking flustered.

"I'm sorry, here I was thinking ya'd . . . not exactly look down on me. But be disappointed or somethin' and you're tellin' me you've been in the stockade too?'

"Well, yeah. Me and Rio and Pete. We've been together like, forever, and we're not the nicest guys around. So a few D and D's, DOPP and like that. So who'm I to look down on you. You're in here for a reason that makes sense. Instead of gettn' plastered and breakin' up a bar like us"

"Tell the rest of the guys to come when they can. I give up. I need to see ya more than I thought I would . . . just like that MP said. If ya kinda draw straws or somethin' I can have visitors every day and ya don't all have to wonder who's visitin' and if ya only come two or three a day, I won't have to spend hours in transports. They'll cut me loose for visitors. If I'm in the yard or the common room they're keepin' me cuffed so some idiot wantin' a rep don't start a fight with me. And, in a way, I'm glad. If someone jumps me, I'm in real trouble. I'm so jumpy, I'd probably really hurt ‘im . . . at the least. So instead of bein' a proud fool, I'll be the opposite and just be glad ya want to see me at all."

Ranma stood up because the MP was already at the door. Conroy surprised Ranma by pulling him into a sudden rough hug, slapping him on the back.

"Well, see you in a coupla days. Rio's next, he'll be here tomorrow. Want anything? If ya want somethin', tell your visitor and the next guy'll bring it. By."

Ranma let the MP manacle him as he watched Conroy leave.

"Damnit, kid, I don't know how they can think you're a nut job. I've never dealt with anyone so cooperative before. If you're good for a few more days I bet the Warden lets us quit this shit."

"Yeah, then some jackass wantin' a rep starts a fight with me and gets hurt. I'm real jumpy. This place makes me nervous. I'd probably kill them before I knew what I was doin', then I'd really be in a mess. I don't like killin' people."

Ranma didn't look at the MP, he was watching his feet so he wouldn't trip, so he didn't see the look on his face. {Don't like killing people. Excuse me?}

~ * ~

Vignette

"Sarg? Close your eyes. I don't want you to see this coming. You'll duck it."

"No, damnit, Rio, you're not slugin' me. Ranma'll have a fit. He specifically said not."

"Yeah? If I punch ya, what's he gonna do?"

"Don't think I want to know, he looks really stressed out. I wouldn't push him if I was you."

"Shit!"

~ * ~

"Saotome, you've got a visitor."

The MP knew that Ranma had said he would see his friends, so he didn't even think about telling Ranma that his visitor was his mother.

Ranma looked in the visitors room and then shook his head at the MP.

"No. Leave ‘em."

"What? Ok."

The MP just walked off without uncuffing Ranma, shaking his head. He didn't understand this kid at all.

Ranma entered the room, leg irons rattling. He sat down at the steel-topped table. It was heavy, made of a solid wood top covered with a sheet of steel. Like all visitors rooms the table was bolted to the floor.

Saotome Nodoka sat opposite her son. She examined him, not liking what she saw. Ranma was wearing a BDU uniform. It was neatly pressed but the shirt had a big P on the back and smaller ones on each sleeve over the biceps. The pants had a P on each leg. He was also wearing leg irons and handcuffs.

"I am ashamed of you, boy. Treason against the empire. You bring shame to the family. . . . NO, don't speak. I understand the charges were dismissed but that doesn't make any difference. You know what you did."

Ranma watched his mother as she reached into her purse and drew out a tanto. She put it on the table between them. Then she stood up and gazed at him sternly.

"Now you will make reparation. You will wash away our shame."

Ranma watched as his mother turned and left without a backward glance.

He reached out and picked up the tanto with a shaking hand. He just sat looking at it for a moment. Then he unsheathed it. Turning it in his hand, he watched the light dance on the edge.

He felt the rage building; he momentarily scrambled for a reason not to lose his temper and failed.

With a roar of rage he jammed the tanto into the table top by half its 18" length. He braced himself on the table, half bent over, breathing hard, broken handcuff chains dangling. Then he slammed his fists down on the table top, leaving dents the shape of his hands.

"I don't believe she could do that to me. SHE LEFT ME!! Damn her. Damn her to hell!"

Ranma snapped the tanto off between the hilt and the table top, breaking a hundred-year-old, thousand layer piece of steel like a straw.

"You fucking bitch"

Ranma dropped to his knees, sobbing.

"What the hell just happened. I didn't think we needed an observer with Saotome. He's not the type. Review the tape and find out what went down."

Polk left the room at a hard trot, headed for Ranma. He missed being first by a hair. Buck got in the door ahead of him.

"Hey, Saotome, talk to me. What the hell happened here? What's that in your hand?"

Buck could only see part of what Ranma was clutching to his chest. "Why don't ya give me that?"

Gunnie Polk got behind Ranma and gently pulled him into his arms.

Both men couldn't understand why a visit from his mother could turn a cheerful, cooperative boy into this grief stricken, sobbing ball of misery.

"Geeze, he's got a knife! Where the hell did he get that?"

Polk gently tugged Ranma's arm out of the huddle he'd turned into. Buck massaged Ranma's fingers until he let go of the hilt with its 5 inches of broken blade. When he went to put it on the table, he saw the rest of the blade.

"Shit! She gave him this and he broke it. Why would she give him . . ."

Ranma interrupted him with a soft moan.

"Noooo. She left me. She wouldn't . . . My own mother. Oh, shit . . . shit . . . Please . . . don't. Let me go. I can't stand this."

Ranma clutched at Polk who was trying to turn him around so he could see him.

"No, don't look at me. I can't stand it. I don't believe she could do that to me. "

Ranma covered his face with his hands. He knew he was getting hysterical and he couldn't help it.

Buck saw what was happening and unknowingly took his life in his hands. He jerked Ranma out of Polk's arms and hauled him to his feet, then he slapped his face.

"Stop that! You'll make yourself sick. What the hell is going on? Why did she give you a knife? And why did you break it? That was a pretty expensive antique piece of steel."

Ranma shoved Buck away and fell into a defensive stance, snapping the leg irons like string. Buck held his hands out, turning pale, Ranma was on a razors edge and the wrong move would push him over into violence that they weren't prepared to deal with.

"Hey . . . easy . . . look at me! It's just ol' Bucky-boy. Calm down and talk to me."

Polk moved around to let Ranma see both of them. They had to get him calm before McIntosh decided to crack down, Ranma was right on the verge of a disciplinary fault.

"Damn her. She left me. You don't understand. She walked out and left me."

Ranma was still nearly incoherent, torn between grief and rage, all he could do was swear and sputter.

"Ok?! She gave ya a knife, which we'll get her for, and left. Big deal! Other than passing you contraband, no big. You even broke it, which is in your favor. You're not in any trouble, anyway, so why all the fuss?"

Ranma looked at the two Americans and realized they had no clue what she'd done or why he was so upset.

Finally managing to partially calm himself, he walked over to the table and in one burst of adrenalin draining rage he yanked the table off its bolts and slammed it into the wall, breaking it into bits.

"Ok. Ok. I'm as calm as I'm going to get. Don't mind me if I scream a bit."

"That fuckin bitch who called herself my mother disowned me and gave me an honor knife. Then she walked out on me." Ranma drew a deep breath now they'd understand. They didn't.

McIntosh, who was fascinated with Samurai, had an idea. He'd been standing in the hall listening. When Ranma had gone off, he'd been called and gotten there in time to hear Ranma say he was ‘calm'.

He walked into the room, dismissed the broken table as unimportant, and went straight to Ranma who was now shaking like a leaf in a high wind.

"Come with me. Come on. You're not in trouble. I just want to get you somewhere else. You don't need to be here. We'll go to the break room down the hall."

Motioning to Buck behind his back, he continued, "We'll get you some tea and something to calm you. Now come on."

McIntosh got Ranma settled in an over stuffed chair with a cup of tea. Letting Ranma sip on the tea he called Steven

"You better get over here. Ranma's just had a real bad shock"

"What happened? He was fine yesterday"

"I'll let him tell you. I'm not sure what it's all about and he doesn't know me well enough to talk to me about this. Just get here will ya. He's about to go amok."

"I don't think I better. He's pretty pissed at me right now. I'll find Kuno or Ryouga and send them. Just take care of him til they get there." Steven groaned, this was all they needed just now.

Ranma realized that none of the Americans understood what Nodoka had done. Maybe McIntosh had an idea.

"Captain McIntosh. I'm sorry I flipped out." Ranma drew in a deep shuddering breath. "I see none of ya understand. Where's Polk and Buck?" They came in from their hovering in the hall. "Ok I'll try to make this simple. My mother has an old-fashioned sense of honor. She found out that one of the charges brought against me was treason, no matter if it was dismissed or not, she felt the family honor was tarnished so, in order to cleanse it, she brought me a tanto. A special kind called an honor knife. She expected me to commit seppuku." All three men gasped. "Yeah, but you don't understand the worst. She left me to do it alone"

McIntosh suddenly gaged and left the room.

"Ok, so she left ya alone. I understand you would never actually do it but a quick stab to the heart . . . I'm lost kid."

Ranma clutched the tea cup to his belly, suddenly shaking again.

"Not to the heart, the gut. She expected me to cut my guts out and sit looking at them til I died. She left me without a Kaishaku. Someone who would decapitate me before I suffered too much. Without a kaishaku it takes a long time to die. Up to 12 hours of agony . . . and I'm not much of a screamer."

Polk sat down on the floor, missing the chair he'd been aiming at. Buck found out that he knew more swear words and ways to combine them than he realized.

Ranma just cried some more.

McIntosh came back in with two white pills and a glass of milk.

"Here, boy. Take these, they'll help you calm down. Just a mild sedative."

Ranma obediently took the pills remarking, "Won't help. I'm practically immune to the stuff."

"Not this. Those medical jonnies have been working on it. That's specially formulated for Georges. Just relax and give it time to work"

They took Ranma back to his cell and left him with the kindly command to get some rest.

Ranma lay down in his lonely cell and wished for his friends.

.

Steven mean while was talking to Ryouga.

"Ryu, you better get over to the stockade A-sap. Ranma's having some kind of crisis."

Just then Kuno ran in. "One of my secondary team is in the stockade and called me. You'll never believe it. Nodoka brought Ranma an ‘honor knife' and left him."

Ryouga just froze. It took him a second to process what Kuno had said. Then he let out a scream. He screamed so loud that the windows shattered.

Steven just left the room snarling at Kuno to, "Get Ryu over there before Ranma does something violent."

Kuno grabbed Ryu by the arm. "Come on, lets go, we need to be there, not here. Put your feelings aside and move it."

Kuno and Ryouga jumped out the broken window and headed for the stockade. Instead of taking the time to go around to the gate, they jumped over the fence and smashed through the back door of the stockade building.

They ran into an MP, who was sprinting for the noise.

"Saotome Ranma, where is he?"

Kuno stabbed the man with his most arrogant glower.

"Huh? You can't just break into a . . ." the MP ran down suddenly. No one broke into a stockade.

"Where's Ranma?" Ryouga grabbed the MP by the shirt and shook him.

The patter of more feet headed their way made them close up. Standing back to back, they looked ready to take on the whole compliment of MP's headed their way.

Polk had been ready for Ranma's friends to show up, but not this way. He'd expected upset boys coming to the desk. Not these fierce warriors breaking down doors.

"Easy! Stand down, guys. I'll take care of this. Go back to your positions."

The MP's left with some muttering from men wanting to know what was going on.

Polk took Ryouga and Kuno to Ranma's cell and fumbled for keys, Ryouga didn't wait for him to find the right one. He just tore the door off the hinges and tossed it aside.

Ranma hadn't even noticed the noise, granted it had come from the other side of the building, but he usually noticed loud bangs and such. He looked up as the door was torn off its hinges.

"Hey! Ryouga what are you doing? You can get in real trouble doing that."

Ranma forgot about himself, his misery came second to his friends.

"Ranma damnit. You talk to me. What the hell happened? Kuno says Nodoka left you with a tanto and no kaishaku. You're shittin' me, right?"

Ryouga hauled Ranma into his arms and held on. Here Ranma had endured one of the most incredible experiences of a lifetime and he was worrying about them getting into trouble.

"Oh, Ryu I'm ok. The Warden gave me some of that new sedative. I feel pretty good." Ranma looked heavy eyed.

Ryouga turned his head, "Kuno, find out what they gave him. I don't want to be dealing with an unknown."

"OK. I haven't heard about any new sedative. And you know I keep up with all the new stuff. You think I better call Sunny."

Kuno headed out the door while Ryouga sat down on Ranma's bed.

"Yeah. You better call Sunny. She'll snatch your head off if you don't."

They didn't need to call Sunny, the Compound Latrine-o-gram was working over time. Everyone and his dog was interested in Ranma, not only because he was a George, but also because everyone knew what he'd done for Department 13 in general. {Never mind that many of them got a laugh out of him getting one over on Steven}

"I want to know what you gave Ranma.I don't know of any new drug just for Georges." Sunny was ready to have McIntosh for lunch; giving Ranma an unknown or untested drug.

"I gave him two aspirin tablets and a glass of milk so the aspirin wouldn't upset his stomach." McIntosh looked at the girl bristling at him like an over protective fairy. "Ever heard of the placebo effect?"

Sunny blinked, then she grinned at him apologetically.

"Yeah, I hope it helped. I don't know what happened yet but I heard it really upset Ranma. Take me to him please. Oh! I'm his healer as well as his girl friend."

"Ok. But some guys named Ryouga and Kuno are with him already. They jumped the fence and busted down two doors to get to him." McIntosh led the way to Ranma's room.

McIntosh actually saw the door for the first time. It was crumpled up and torn half in two. It was also sticking out of the cinder block back wall of the cell block.

"Well, hell."

Sunny ignored the devastation completely, she couldn't have cared less if the entire building was smashed, all she was interested in was Ranma.

"Ranma . . . honey . . . Koibito. What the hell happened? All I know is that someone came to visit you and you got mad. That man gave you an unknown drug, but that's ok, because I know about it. What upset you? Oh"

While Sunny had been talking, Ranma had climbed into her lap like a cat {Neko anyone} and curled up, he'd started crying again. Now he couldn't seem to get stopped. Ryouga let Ranma go to Sunny but he kept a hand on him just in case. Kuno came back in just then and added himself to the huddle on the bed.

Sunny sat with Ranma on her lap, Kuno beside her on one side and Rouga on the other, the two boys were ready to pin Ranma down if he got violent, the broken chains dangling from his body left no question in their minds that the Stockade wasn't prepared to handle an angry Ranma

"Ran-chan, koi, what happened all I know is your mother came to visit and the next thing I hear is they're drugging you."

"Yes, I would like to hear this from your own lips. I have never heard of such a thing in more than seven hundred years. It's a disgrace."

Ryouga wondered if he shouldn't order three doses of the real thing, although a dose for him would kill a regiment and Kuno wasn't far behind.

Ranma repeated his story and watched as sweet, kind, gentle, Sunny turned into a raging fury. "I'm gonna kill her. I'm gonna make her guts rot in her belly. When I get through with her, she'll think Kaishaku. That bitch." Sunny was headed for the door when Kuno got to her. All Ryouga and Ranma could do was stare

"Wow! . . . Sunny, calm down." Ranma dried his eyes and grabbed for Sunny. He calmed himself and took care of his girlfriend.

"Hey, everyone, it's ok. I was just really shocked. That stuff they gave me took hold. Come here." Ranma gathered his friends into a mutual hug.

They stayed that way for a long time, swaying gently, rocking each other and finding balance in the midst of chaos. Finally Ranma broke it off.

"Look guys, Sunny. I'm so beat I can't stand up anymore. I think the adrenalin crash is getting to me. I got to lie down. Kuno, if you get any more sour looking, you'll turn into a lemon. Why don't you take Ryouga back to the dorm? Ryu, man, thanks for coming so fast. I want to talk to you in the next couple a' days. The guy attached to the Stockade don't know me and he just looks at me."

Turning to Sunny, he held out his hands and when she took them, he kissed her knuckles and smiled that special smile he saved only for her.

"Little Miss Don't lose your temper. Where did that come from?" When Sunny opened her mouth to answer he put a finger against her lips. "Never mind. Don't bother with Mommy. She's not worth it. She'll get hers in the end. Go back to the dorm, come visit me as soon as you can. I'm going to sleep. Find out what that drug is. It really works good."

Sunny waited until Ranma was in bed, she tucked him in and kissed his cheek, then she left him.

"Your name Buck?" Sunny was in Bucks face.

"Yeah you don't remember me do you. I'm the rope guy."

"Oh, I remember you. Well, you better take better care of Ranma than you have been. He's still wearing the remains of those stupid chains. He needs to have them off as soon as possible."

Sunny shook her finger in Buck's face to emphasize her point. Buck wanted to get the shattered remains off Ranma too. However, the damage had been done.

"I want to know exactly how strong Saotome is. Once could be defective equipment but twice? I don't think so. We have a martial artist who is now on a hair trigger and who knows how long it will take him to truly calm down. He did a good job of faking it just now but he's twitching in his sleep and you know that's not a good thing. If someone starts anything with him, we're sunk. And we have a new batch coming in tomorrow after noon."

McIntosh knew he was being unfair to Ranma but Ranma had scared the shit out of him and he needed to know that he could control Ranma. He had to be in control of his stockade, if he wasn't, that meant the prisoners were and that caused riots. He really didn't need an Attica on his hands. So he called in the supernatural section. They told him anything that would actually hamper Ranma enough to be effective would be considered cruel and unusual. They also told him that Ranma was chained tighter than anyone could manage with physical restraints.

.

"Steven, why do you hate me? What did I ever do to you? Damnit, I've got this boy here and I can't keep him restrained if I need to. What am I supposed to do?"

McIntosh was worried. He didn't want to be cruel to Ranma but he didn't want him running rampant all over the Compound when he was supposed to be confined to the Stockade.

"You don't need to do anything. Just talk to Ranma, tell him what your concerns are and why you do what you do. He's cooperative. Didn't he let you shackle him when he hates it so much it drives him crazy? Isn't he cooperating with the guards and everyone? Just talk to him. He's still mad at me but tell him I'm thinking of him and I'm sorry."

Steven hung up the phone, he wanted to be there for Ranma but he wouldn't force himself on the boy, he'd wait until Ranma asked for him. Then he'd be there like a shot. {Damn I hope I can repair this somehow}

Ranma woke up that morning a little late and decided to skip training for a day. He didn't skip very often but he decided after a day like yesterday he deserved a day off. So stretching and scratching, he allowed himself plenty of time to wake up. Then he threw the covers back and set his feet on the floor.

"Eeepp! What the hell happened to the door. Hey I didn't do that . . . did I. I don't remember."

Ranma stuck his head out the doorless opening and looked around. No one was about so he gathered up his toiletries and headed for the showers. He managed to get through the shower with the minimum of fuss except for the chains that smacked him. No one had remembered to take the broken remains of the transports off him, he decided to leave them alone.

At the mess hall he encountered his first inkling of trouble. Every guard in the place was looking at him like he was radioactive. {Well, hell. This is going to get old real quick}

Adding himself to the end of the line Ranma got a tray and sat down to eat. Luckily he had his back to a wall because the first thing that happened was a man grabbed his wrist.

"What the hell is that? What are you doing wearing a broken handcuff?"

Ranma retrieved his hand, pushed his tray away and picked the man up by his shirt. He shook him like a terrier shakes a rat.

"Don't touch me! Don't sneak up on me! Don't touch my food! Go away, leave me alone. I'm not in the mood for stupid questions and idiots wantin' to fight."

He slammed the man down on his feet so hard he staggered. There was a noisy scramble as men moved to give Ranma some space.

Ranma sat down and finished his breakfast. Then he went to the guard station.

"Take these cuffs off me. I'm tired of haulin' around a bunch of steel for no good reason. You ain't chainin me no more. You wanna, you gotta force me and frankly you can't. I wanna talk to McIntosh. Now."

The guard stifled his first impulse, which was to tell this suddenly arrogant little snot that he was the guard and not the prisoner, he just unlocked the cuffs and told Ranma he knew where the office was, so go there.

Ranma walked into McIntosh's office without knocking and got in on the tail end of McIntosh's conversation with Steven. McIntosh was sitting at his desk with the phone on speaker, eating with one hand and writing with the other.

"I'm here. Ya wanna chain me anymore, ya gotta earn it. I'm tired a shuffelin' around tryin' not to break those stupid things. It's down right embarasin'. I tried to cooperate and I understand why ya want me in chains. I know I could hurt someone really bad if they jump me, but I just can't do it. Most of the guys in here are big, grown up guys, so my opinion is, if they're stupid enough to call me out, well, they're old enough to take the consequences. Ya listenin' ta me?'

Ranma stood in front of the desk and shook his fist in the Captains face. He was just plain mad, and tired of this whole travesty of justice where they used something that wouldn't even have gone anywhere to punish him for whistle blowing. {I"d like to see Downs survive in here for two seconds.}

"Saotome, will you calm down. After your mother and what not, I know you aren't in the mood for more silliness. So I've got a question for you. Steven and the head of supernatural both . . ."

"Supernatural! You fucker! You try magic on me and you'll really be sorry. I hate magic like poison. You wanna see outta control? I'll turn the Neko-kun loose on ya. There's one way to handle Neko-ken attacks. Run like hell and don't look back. Stupid asshole."

Ranma stopped talking because he'd run out of air. He stood panting, glaring at McIntosh like he wanted to turn Neko-kun on the spot.

McIntosh backed up clear to the wall. He'd never seen anything like it. He knew most people claimed not to be able to see Kirilian auras but he could and Ranma's was bright red, it extended from his body by a good foot and flickered like a flame. The gold sparkles flashing through it were pretty but they showed purity of intent. He'd never seen Ranma's aura before. {Oh, shit! The boy doesn't leak, I never noticed that before. I've got to stop shutting down}

"Calm down and let me finish. The head of Supernatural said he wouldn't do anything for me. Talked about cruel and unusual punishment, that sort of thing. And he and Steven both said that I already had a way to bind you as tightly as I needed to. I'm making a mess of this. I don't like dealing with stuff like this. I see auras and it's always scared me. I never noticed yours. I try to shut down as much as I can and ignore it. I guess I've got to back up and reconsider. But that being neither here nor there to the subject at hand. What was Steven talking about? How can I bind you? Your aura is so strong I think you could break an anchor chain."

Ranma considered, he was already busted so he might as well be honest with the man. He hoped being honest would reassure McIntosh, he wasn't regretting his outburst, but he knew it could cause him trouble. He wasn't going to put up with silly chains anymore. He'd tried cooperating and gotten no where, so now he was going to try stubbornness combined with honesty

"I'm not sure exactly how heavy a chain it would take to hold me. There's the Neko-ken to consider. You can't stop that. Using that ‘call' I can cut just about anything not heavily imbued with magic and I mean really heavily. And you ain't puttin' magical chains on me. I'll kill ya if ya try."

"Easy. I already said they wouldn't make any. I just don't understand why. They're just chains."

McIntosh struggled to understand. He wouldn't be very happy about being chained up but, to him, it was better that getting in a series of fights.

Ranma took a deep breath and let it out through his nose. He paced for a minute then he decided. "Ok here's the deal. Ya can see auras. Can you manipulate yours at all?"

"Yes, a little. I've never done much with it. It scares me too much. But I'll try. I know I come off as a rigid person and I'm having real trouble here, you don't seem like a bad kid, but your records say otherwise, so I'm having a problem with what to do with you. My head says one thing and everything else says another. So I'm trusting you where my head says run."

"Well, thanks so much. Ya better make up your mind soon because if ya don't, it'll all be over but the cryin'. My temper can only take so much and that crack about magic is really pushin' it. First I'll show ya why I hate magic, then I'll tell ya all ya have to do to keep me outta trouble."

Ranma cupped his hands and let some of his chi flow into them. "See the color of my aura? That's under my control and unfettered by magic. Now I'll show you what it looks like fettered. Don't touch it or you'll feel what I felt."

Ranma's unfettered aura was cool, actually a blue color, close to the color of his eyes. But it sparkled and moved like clear mountain lake water. Then he fettered it. Suddenly it was shot through with muddy grayish tendrils, tendrils which oozed through it as if seeking his very heart.

McIntosh reached out and touched it before Ranma could clear it or release it.

Amazingly he didn't make a sound he just shuddered and removed his finger.

"Ow! That really hurts. Is it always like that? That unadulterated agony?"

"Yeah, It just keeps on, and on, and on. Until it would be a mercy to die. Luckily for me the men who used magic on me didn't want me crazy, just obedient, so they had a way to turn it on and off. So, you try magic on me and you die."

"Ok, that was pure hell. No magic. But how do I keep men from trying to build a rep by fighting a George? I don't want to have to cope with a constant series of exercise yard fights. If I chain you, they won't attack because it won't add to their rep."

Ranma looked at McIntosh, he was really distressed, he was trying to be fair to everybody and ended up being a real dither case.

"Ya can't keep them from it. But you can redirect it. Simply put . . . I, Saotome Ranma, swear on my honor that, no matter what the provocation, I will not start a fight. If someone wants to issue a challenge, they must do so in writing, to you and you will arrange for us to fight in the dojo under controlled conditions. There . . . chained tighter than anything you can do. Just make sure I don't regret this. Oh! and please keep people from touching me. Some jerk handled me in the mess and I sorta shook him. He's ok, but if I did that now, I would be breaking my word."

"That's what it takes? Well shit, if I'd known that, it would have taken a load off my mind. If you will let me ‘look' at you, I'd like to check your aura. I think that's why I almost always know when someone is lying to me." Ranma nodded and McIntosh used his nearly atrophied skill to look at Ranma's aura.

He saw that, while Ranma might tell the sort of untruth that all people told, he didn't lie about important things. And he certainly wasn't lying about this.

~ * ~

D and D Drunk and Disorderly

DOPP Destruction of Private Property

next chapter we have a big show, then there is a trial, after that we get deamons

This little bit has nothing to do with the story. I have had several people tell me I need a beta reader. I know I do. So *rant here* don't tell me I need a beta unless you are willing to beta me. *done now*